Hoist crane construction



Jan. 27, 1942. R. J. HARRY 2,271,427

HoIsT- CRANE CONSTRUCTION V Filed Jan. 12, 1939 2 sheets-Sheet 1 NN *N WN. J 1 NN l. m Vaud nu... Av M 1 f l IJ jjw E um. @n Rm um j CMN V NI. \l .IV @om .N Si? L mm l um mmfm lllll l- .h l| Il m" En? u NIN mm M 1| M H Y M l $1.119. N7; 1 BTRJBW Janv. 27, 1942. R. J'. HARRY 2,271,427

HoIsT CRANE CONSTRUCTION v Filed Jan; 12, 1959 '2 sheets-sheet 2 www INVENTOR Patented Jan. 27, 1942 .Y v i lUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,271,427l HOIST 4CRAN E CONSTRUCTIOllL l Robert J. Harry, Alliance, Ohio Application January 12, 1939, serial No. 250,577

` s claims. (o1. asi-1584 Y This invention ypertains to a new and improved l adjacent opposite sides thereof and suitably jouroperating mechanism arrangement and/or laynal hoist drums'2'2, As shown, a Ypair of hoist out for a hoist crane, and particularly, toa new drums 22 is journaled in each housing 20 and coand improved actuating mechanism therefor. operates with a cable sheave 23 op'erably mount- Previous to the present invention, as explained 5 ed on the shaft 24 on the framework l0; the in vmy eopending application Serial No. 250,578, sheaves 23 are preferably mounted below and in filed January l2, 1939, entitled Hoist crane consubstantial alignment with the center line bestruction, it has heretofore been customary to tween each pair of drums. Gther suitable arprovide worm gears where the advantages Cof rangements may be employed.

an intertimed relationship are desired between 1'0 Each drum 22 is provided with a large gear hoist drums, and also where assurance ofprotec- Wheel 25 adjacent its inner end that meshes with tion is provided against the failure of one of the a similar gear wheel of the other drumy of the hoistdrum or driving mechanisms. same pair. Each of the drum gears 25 is in turn An object of the present invention has been actuated and `driven by a drive pinion 26 mountto provide a new and improved layout or opera- 1.5. ed on opposite ends of a drive shaft 21. Oppotive arrangement for hoist drums in va crane sitely-positioned drive shafts 21 are journaled at construction. opposite ends within the opposite housings 2| Another object of my invention has been to mounted on the framework IU. f devise a new and improved 'intertiming and in- Individual motors 30 having suitable Vbrake 'terlocking drive arrangement for crane hoist 20 drums 3l, shaft couplings 32, armature shafts apparatus. 33, and armature pinions 35, drive a gear mech- A further object has been to provide an actuanism that is mounted in housing 34 and that, ated relationship of'hoist drums in a crane conin turn, drives each of the oppositely-positioned struction that embodies theadvantageous feadrive shafts 21. y c tures of a worm gear arrangement without dis- 25 As will be noted,the drive shafts 21 are posiadvantageous features thereof. tioned at opposite ends of the framework and A still further object has been to provide a are driven byindvdual IIIOOIS; the IIlOtOlS, in hoist mechanism arrangement lwherein drum turn, are connected through the drive shafts 21,

gears are interlocked andthe motors are conthe drive pinOIlS 25, and the drum gears 25- nected in such a manner 'that' the arrangement 39 The gear mechanism within the housing 34 is protected from damagedueto an unequal aecomprises a jack shaft 31 journaled therein and tuation or stoppage of the motivating mechahaving a gear 36 meshing with armature pinion nisms', Y 35 and driving a jack shaft pinion 38 that meshes These and many otherobjects of my invention with a rachet gear 39. will appear to those skilled'in the art from a 35 The rachet gear construction is shown particu study of the drawings, the description thereof, larly in Figures 2 and 3 of the drawings. It inand the appended claims. cludes a main body portion 39 having gear` teeth In the drawings: f about its periphery and having bearing portions Figure 1 is a top planeview of a hoist crane 4| and 42 that are journaled with respect to a operating mechanism embodying novel features of the present invention; n The latter is preferably secured or feathered to Figure'Z is an enlarged side view in elevation the drive shaft 21, see keyWay 43, and isprovided of a ratchet gear employed in the arrangement with va` peripheral annulus bearing portionl 44 of Figure 1; and Y 45 thatabuts against bearings 42 and is held in po- Figure'3 isa sectional viewin elevation taken sition by a plurality of radially extending and along the lin'e III-III of Figure 2. spaced-apart positioning clamps 45. The clamps Although any suitable form of crane frame- 45 are of angular construction and at their outer work construction may beV employed, I have shown ends terminate in offset portions 4B that receive a vtransversely extending framework itlv having o a resiliently mounted bolt construction 41 exan'ge 5 track wheels Il journaled within hous- '3' tending fromvthe lgear portionA 39. In this maningV portions at opposite corners thereof and ner, the ratchet wheel portion 40 is resiliently driven by motors l5, oppositely extending armaheld in position With respect to the gear portion ture shafts II3, and fgear reduction units i4. 39 in the plane of its rotative axis by the spring mechanism 41.

Rachet pawls 50 are pivotally mounted at 5I j Oppositely locatedA housings '20 of generally rectangular outline are mounted on the frame i0 secondary, inner, rachet tooth wheel portion 4l).

on inwardly extending mount portions of the gear 39. Each pawl is provided with an extending guide pin 52 at its rear end that is adapted to move along a slotted portion 53 of the mount construction. The pawls also engage with the teeth indentations 4B of the rachet wheel -40 and are held in an operative relationship with respect thereto by substantially radially extending springs 55, The springs 55 are positioned between a stud 54 of an inner peripheral portion of the gear 39 and indentations 49 within faces of the pawls 50.

From a study of the above construction, it will appear that a rotation of the gear Wheel 39 in a clockwise direction in Figure 2 will produce a corresponding rotation of the inner or pawl wheel 40, and thus, of the drive shaft 21, while a counter-clockwise rotation will be permitted without actuation of the shaft 2l. That is, in the latter case, the pawls 50 will slip over the pawl teeth 48 and permit relative movement between the two parts of the ratchet gear mechanism. This arrangement thus permits the motors 30 to positively actuate the directly interlocked pairs of hoist drums 22, but will prevent damage to the apparatus and connections if one motor is stopped or started before the other by reason of the permissive relative movement between the pawl and ratchet portions.

As will appear, the motors of my arrangement are connected for synchronous operation in hoisting, and in case of the failure of one motor the ratchet gears will permit the load to be raised by the other motor. In normal hoisting with two motors, premature setting of the brakes of one motor will not set up inertia stresses in the hoisting mechanism. As relative movement is permitted between the motors by reason of the ratchet gears and as one motor tends to slow down, so that its speed is slower than the other motor, the load is supported by the motor having the greater relative speed. When both sets of motor brakes are applied and the motors brought to rest, both sets of brakes can be effective in holding the load. In lowering, the speed of the descending load is determined by the speed of the slower motor, as the load on the hooks keeps the ratchets in engagement in the slower motor gear train. The application of dynamic braking regulates the speed of the descending load. This means that the load cannot be lowered when one motor is stopped, which is just the opposite to the hoisting sequence, where the load can be lifted by one motor when the other is stopped.

The premature setting of the brakes of one motor, when lowering, will apply retarding torque to the load and cause deceleration, but

the ratchet gears prevent the other motor from setting up inertia stresses in the lowering mechanism, as the relatively faster motor cannot apply torque in the lowering mechanisrndue to the ratchet gears; this causes the slower motor to take the load in lowering and the faster motor to take the load in hoisting. In lowering, the speed is determined by the slower motor, and in hoisting, the speed is determined by the faster motor.

When I speak of the axis of the individual drums or the axes of the drum pairs or portions of the same, I have reference to the axis or axes about which the drum or drum pairs turn or rotate. The same is true as to shafting and other operating and drive connections and members as dened in the claims. When I speak of interlocked drums in the specification, I

have reference to intermeshed or intermeshing drums which are provided with suitable means such as drum gears for, in eiect, locking them in such a manner that their operation is intergeared and that they are separately actuated by suitable members.

Although for the purpose of illustration, I have shown a form of my invention that provides a suitable type of motor movement and interlocking drum relationship and permits the motivating mechanism to operate the drum pairs without dan-ger due to unlike characteristics of the motors or due to uneven stoppinglor starting action, it will be apparent to those skilled in the Vart that many other suitable arrangements may be employed and that various modications, additions, subtractions, etc., may be made to the mechanism shown and described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as indicated by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a hoisting crane, pairs of hoisting drums, each drum having a gear secured thereto, the drums of each pair being operably intermeshed through said gears and having a portion of their axes in a side-by-side relationship, a pair of actuating motors for said drums, said motors being positioned adjacent end portions of said drums, each motor having a drive member extending in substantially the same direction as the above-defined portion of the drum axes, a member operably connecting a drum of one pair to a drum of the other pair, a second member operably connecting the other drums of the pairs together, means operably connecting one of said members to one of said motors, and independent means operably connecting the other of said members to the other of said motors for actuating said drums.

2. In a hoisting crane, spaced-apart pairs of 'hoisting drums, each drum having a gear secured thereto, drums of each drum pair being operably intermeshed through said gears and having a portion of their axes in a side-by-side relationship, a pair of actuating motors for said drums positioned in the spacing between said drum pairs adjacent end portions of said drums, each motor having a rotating axis extending substantially in the same direction as the above-mentioned portion of the drum axes, means operably connecting one of said motors to a drum of each pair, and means operably connecting the other of said motors to the other drums of each pair, each of said means being independent of the other.

3. In a hoisting crane, spaced-apart pairs of hoisting drums, each drum having a gear secured thereto, the drums of each pair being operably intermeshed through said gears and having a portion of their axes in a side-by-sde relationship, a pair of actuating motors for said drums in the spacing between said drum pairs, said motors being positioned adjacent end portions of said drums, each motor having a rotating axis extending substantially in the same direction as the above-mentioned portion of the drum axes, one of said motors having its front end portion facing one pair of drums, the other of said motors having its front end portion facing the other pair of drums, means operably connecting one of said motors to one drum of one pair and to an opposite drum of the other pair, said means permitting relative movement in one diwhich it is operably connected, and additional means operably connectingsaid other motor to the other drum of the one pair and to an opposite.

drum of the other pair. l

4. In a hoisting crane as dened in claim 3, wherein said additional means also permits relative movement in one direction between said other motor and the drums to which itis operably connected. f,

5. In a hoisting crane, spaced-apart pairs of hoisting drums, each drum having a gear secured thereto, the drums of each drum pair beingoperably intermeshed through said gears and having a portion of their axes in a side-.by-side relationship, a pair of actuating motors for said drums, said motors being positioned between said pairs of hoisting drums adjacent end portions of said drums, each motor having a rotating axis extending substantially in the same direction as the above-mentioned portion of the axes of said drums and being in a substantially parallel relationship with the rotating axis of the other of said motors, members extending across the spacing between said drum pairs and operably connecting opposite drums of each pair together, and intermeshing gear means operably connecting one motor to one of said members and operably connecting the other motor to the other of said members, said connections being independent of each other and having means for permitting relative movement in one direction between at least one of said motors and said members, f

6. In combina-tion with a traveling hoisting crane adapted to move longitudinally from one location to another and having a'frame extending transversely'of its direction of movement, spaced-apart pairs of hoisting drums operably positioned at opposite 'Y sides ofsaid fframe, the drums of eachpair having akportion of their I `axes in atside-by-siie relationship, each drum of eachpairehaving a gear' intermeshing with a gear Aof the other drum of the same pair, a pair of motors on said frame-in the spacing between said drum pairs, said motors being positioned adjacent end portions ofsaid drums and having drive membersextending vin a substantially end-A to-end relationship" with said drum pairs, the axes of 'said drums extending substantially transversely of the direction `of travel of said crane, a member having gear means adjacent opposite'A ends thereof operably A connecting together a drum of one pair with an opposite drum of the .adjacent opposite ends thereof operably connect- A ing the other rdrum of one pair to the other and opposite drum of the other pair, spur gear means operably connecting the drive memberfof one motor to one of said connecting members, andr independent spur gear meansoperably connecting the drive member of the other motor to the other I of said connecting members. n

'7. In a combination' asl defined in claim 6, wherein at least one of said spur gear means is provided with means permitting relative movement in one direction between the associated motor drive member andthe connectingV member..

8. In a combination as defined in claim 6 wherein said connecting members extend substantially transverselyv of the direction of travel of said crane and have a spaced-apart relationship with respect to each other substantially corresponding to a dimension of a drum pair taken substantially longitudinally of the direction oi travel of'said crane.

ROBERT J. HARRY. 

